Recently, during one of his brief reflections during midday mass, the University Chaplain brought up a concept which he referred to as ‘holy restlessness’. He offered us some beautiful insights on the human soul and quoted Saint Augustine, who is famous for declaring that our hearts are restless until they find rest in God. But Fr Mark went beyond merely the religious sphere, and explained ...

God reveals himself “as he who seeks a profound relationship with man, which implies heart, mind, and strength.”[1] The receiver of the revelation has always been described as hearer of the Word, however Spadaro comments that the listening activity became the soundtrack to everything we make. Surely it is not an “action of obedience (ob audire), but of accompaniment, which does not give meaning but ...

Leadership is challenging to define, since there are many definitions. How would I define leadership? Leadership is about loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving neighbor. This definition is based on the Christian perspective, with all due respect to other faiths. Leadership is also about serving the people. It is not what your country can do for you, but what ...

“How is your prayer life?” sounds like a simple enough question but it can be surprisingly difficult to answer. It is an invitation to think about the time we take to talk with God, and to consider where we are in our relationship with God at this moment in our lives. For those of us who cultivate an active spiritual life, prayer is an objective ...

Do you ever wake up in the morning and just think, “No. Today just… no”? Today was one of those days for me. I woke to a dozen messages on my phone from a number of people asking for this or that, things to post on my computer, laundry to do at home, work to go to go, errands to run, etc. etc. Most of ...

I am a firm believer in the power and relevance of the unspoken narrative. In many situations, I find myself listening for the volumes of experience that people do not put words to. The hidden intentions behind every action; the buried emotion in every story; the stark reality we choose to ignore as we go about our daily lives. Call me crazy (perhaps you would ...

I’m not an old man, yet I still find myself slipping into the golden moments of my past. Smells, locations but most frequently songs will transport me instantly to cherished memories with an intensity that is overwhelming. Interestingly the memories, always seem to end in the bittersweet feeling of missing those simpler times, “when things were better”. Nostalgia. But were things actually better? Rarely. The ...

Every 31 December, as the year comes to a close, I generally find myself reflecting upon how my year has gone and what I’m looking forward to in the coming months. Yet no matter how hard I try to envisage what lies ahead, I must admit that every new year stands before me like a blank book, the pages of which remain there for me ...